M22A Carbine
The M22A Carbine was a lightweight, compact assault rifle in service with The Royal Allegiance during the Swarm War. History Developed from the concept of older, ballistic-type carbines, the M22A attempted to give marines and troops operating in both tight and long range conditions better capability. Learning from the successes and failures of earlier weapons which utilised the newly-miniaturised Particle Cannon technology, most notably the AR-14 DEW Assault Rifle, the M22A was produced to be smaller, lighter, more potent on the ground and just as powerful. Introduced in 2738, the rifle gained a notorious reputation for being superior to most ballistic rounds at almost all aspects of target damage. The weapon was nicknamed 'The Bugcrusher' and was largely influential in persuading scientists and military tacticians alike that Particle Cannons were the way forward, and ballistic weapons were the past. Usage The weapon saw moderate use on the ground as a compact assault rifle, or as personal defence weapons for vehicle crews. However, it came into its own in use by the Allegiance Marines. The weapon was compact and lightweight, allowing ease of use in tight shipboard spaces. In addition, its range allowed it to operate effectively down long corridors or large indoor shipboard spaces. A major use was when boarding The Swarm vessels or defending Allegiance navy ones, as its directed energy ammunition type was sufficient even to burn through tough insect carapace with just a few blasts. It was seen as the Marine's trademark weapon, in much the same fashion as the MA5C was to the UNSC Marine Corps. The weapon was easily adapted to various situations and functions due to numerous accessory rails which could mount many attachments. The M22A features three modes of fire; the first, semi-automatic, allowed for one shot to be fired for each squeeze of the trigger. The second mode fired a found-shot burst, which was generally sufficient to take down most armoured targets including Drones and occasionally Reapers. The four round burst could knock down a fully armoured humanoid soldier in one burst, though two were generally needed against shielded targets or larger, insectoid targets. The final mode of fire allowed for rapid, continuous fire and was useful in close range engagements, when facing multiple enemies or one powerful one. Design The weapon did not feature a bullpup layout, as this made automatic fire more difficult to control. In addition, as the weapon was an energy weapon, barrel length did not contribute to accuracy in the same way as a ballistic weapon, therefore no real benefits would be acquired from a bullpup layout. The gun featured an ergonomic pistol-style grip, which improved a user's ability to use the weapon for prolonged periods of time. The magazine was a quick-release energy storage device which held enough charge for 45 shots. The carbine featured accessory rails on the upper and lower receivers which could accommodate a large range of scopes, underslung weapons, grips and other accessories. The weapon was constructed from lightweight FRP (fibre-reinforced polymer) made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres (a carbon fibre/kevlar mix). The material allowed for a lightweight though immensely strong construction. The barrel featured a three-way muzzle break which could accommodate specialised suppressors. The fire mode designator was located by default on the left side of the weapon just above the ergonomically-designed trigger, though it could be changed to the right side during simple disassembly. A retractable stock which was non-removable gave a degree of versatility, meaning an individual user could adapt the weapon's length to their own needs or preferences. The weapon features a flick-down reflex sight as standard, which could be removed for the addition of other sights and scopes. Ammunition The M22A fired blasts of energy at the speed of light, which appeared as long, brilliant white light extending from the barrel which slowly trailed off. In reality the white beams were just after-effects of the actual weapon, which accelerated particles in slipspace to the speed of light, allowing for faster-than-light speeds in realspace. Being only a small weapon, its range was limited by the complexity of the beam confinement technology, giving a theoretical infinite range but a practical maximum range of about 940m. The weapon in effect did not accelerate an object with mass away from the gun, meaning there was no actual recoil. However, the weapon did become more unwieldy when firing on longer range targets or in fully automatic modes. While the use of directed energy weapons did rule out multiple ammunition types which gave an advantage to ballistic weapons, which could use multiple types of ammunition, energy weapons of this type were usually many times more powerful which, for the most part, negated any loss of adaptability from not using multiple round types. In addition, the weapon had various power settings, all the way from a stun setting to a crippling, devastating blast. This in part could be considered analogous to more than one ammunition type and added to the versatility of the weapon. Gallery Image:M22A Carbine_custom1.png|An M22A with fully retracted stock, tactical flashlight, vertical foregrip and an ACOG-style scope Image:M22A Carbine_custom2.png|An M22A with a bipod, suppressor and optical scope